Corruption alleged in construction of Shandur road
CHITRAL: The ongoing expansion and repair of the main road from Chew bridge in Lower Chitral to Shandur in Upper Chitral is being carried out using poor quality of material.
Work on the key road connecting Lower and Upper Chitral started at different points a few months ago and is expected to complete at the end of this year.
Addressing a press conference here, village council Mori chairmen Nabi Khan, local notables Sharif Hussain, Molana Akhonzada Rehmatullah, Ghafar Lal, Molana Hafizur Rehman and others called upon Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to take notice of the substandard work on the most important road and order action against the officials concerned of the National Highway Authority (NHA) for allegedly conniving with the contractors and compromising on the quality of work.
They expressed their anguish over what they called connivance of the NHA officers and the project consultant with the contractors to openly trample quality standards on the construction of the Chitral-Shandur road.
They said cement was not being used in the construction of breast and retaining walls and during the recent rains these walls along the under-construction road collapsed laying bare the poor quality work.
They also criticized the carelessness and negligence of the project consultant and contractors to protect utility lines due to which water lines from Golen valley to Chitral town and DSL line were damaged.
They said the locals had brought the corruption and poor quality work on the road under the notice of the deputy commissioner but to no avail.
They warned that if the government did not take notice of the corruption, the area people would launch protests as the road was of vital importance for the region.–Bashir Hussain Azad
Nothing new bcoz it is norm to pocket big chunk of money from mega even a small project in Pakistan. Did you people forget how millions were pocketed by making false claim that Mastuj road was metalled some years ago. What happened to that corruption, so must not expect any transparency here or any other projects in Chitral.
No good can be expected from NHA, C&W and like departments as they have looted public wealth without any accountability and check. There are black sheep in these organizations and a complaint should be lodged with relevant forums to save this road for future of Chitral.